Night of Destruction
by 2023zhanl38
Summary: An unfortunate series of events has pulled them into the game. They all need to get out - now. But there's just one problem. Mira's Feather is missing, and they can't return to where they belong unless they put it back. Minor violence and language. (Discontinued)
1. Through the Screen

**Skorm**

How that storm hit me while I was outside. I put up my arm to shield myself from the rain as I trudged through the muddy snow. Having almost no idea how in the world I pulled myself out in this winter mess in the first place, I screamed internally and ran as fast as I could.

Suddenly, I stopped.

Why was I running from rain? It's just water from the sky. Although each drop punched me like AJHQ sometimes did to my face with some random update or IG post, it's just stupid water. And lightning? I wasn't near anything that could attract lightning. I'd barely even seen a bolt strike through the dark, angry sky, so why be afraid it would strike me? Thunder. It's just noise. Just the shouts of this thunderstorm screaming at the earth.

I looked up and threw a few empty punches at the sky.

Another slash of lightning zipped through the clouds and almost trickled down like blood, while an angry scream of thunder (probably of agony) followed no more than a second later.

"Don't try to scare me like that next time!" I screamed to the sky, adjusting my glasses. I stuck a smile on my face and walked nonstop for what seemed no more than 20 minutes but was actually about three hours.

Realizing that it was 5:00 and also having nothing better to do, I decided, why not go on Animal Jam. I hadn't logged on for a few days, anyway.

Username, Skorm. Password, I'll never tell.

 _This account has been permanently banned from Animal Jam and cannot login._

* * *

 **Aparri**

I looked out the window. The rain was pouring down dreadfully as if the raindrops were unhappy that the clouds were letting go of them. Another five minutes, though, and it seemed it would completely extinguish hell.

I let my mind wander back to what I'd told AJHQ about. I'd been a bit suspicious about Skorm's actions lately and I found random Animal Jam items on eBay that could have been linked to him. As far as I knew, selling in-game items for real money was way against the rules. I had no way of knowing if AJHQ had read my email to them yet. It seemed the answer would have to wait until something either was done or they replied.

But even though they treated me well, AJHQ was stubborn about a lot of stuff. Sometimes, they don't give you a straight answer in their emails, sometimes they pull glitches or pranks on you, other times they leave you with a question that you just can't answer.

That question, right now, was - had I done the right thing?

I turned away from the depressing window. If only it was snowing instead of raining. Rain? In December? Life is messed up.

I was sure Skorm was selling items on eBay. Or at least, I was pretty sure. He'd done bad things, but I know I've probably done worse. I'd gotten another chance as Aparri, as who I am now. I've reached, what, 300,000 subscribers? Skorm is almost at 100,000, and he'd gained lots of popularity over the years. I've gotten more hate and been thrown at more drama than I'd like dealing with, but hey - you can't be a YouTuber without getting hate sometimes. Drama and hate are both parts of life. An Animal Jam life. I get huge hate now and then, yet there hadn't been huge drama in years, and I wouldn't want to see it return.

But if Skorm was banned…

Sighing, I tried to shake those worries off my shoulders. If Skorm was banned because AJHQ had discovered he was really selling items, then, of course, it would be for a good reason. If Skorm found out that I was the one who told AJHQ about him selling items in the first place, nothing but drama would spring up.

Turning to the computer, I whipped my fingers on the keyboard this way and that, and I was logged onto Animal Jam. Since I was curious about Skorm at the moment, I decided I'd look him up and try and see if I could find out about other stuff.

Find a Buddy. Skorm.

 _That Jammer couldn't be found!_

* * *

 **Skorm**

It took my mind a while to register what had just happened. I was banned? For what? I'd done bad things, but nothing that bad, had I? AJHQ couldn't have found out I was selling items...could they? I didn't think they were allowed to snoop around you that well.

Unless someone told AJHQ. But who could that be? I thought about the people who could have done this. There was WisteriaMoon, but she wasn't a sort of person who would tell AJHQ about something bad someone was doing. There was Julian2...but he wasn't one of those people, either. There was Snowyclaw, but she was almost part of AJHQ, so she wasn't a possibility. Bepper? No...she's pretty much Skepper with me and she'd never do that, as long as she knew that I kind of already have a girlfriend and I don't like her as much as I say I do...

Aparri?

He was a person who never cared about another player's actions. Even though he was a bit of snitch sometimes, Aparri wouldn't be someone who could tell AJHQ about something another person was doing. Then again, Aparri was sneaky. He had secret ways of stalking and getting random information that was only confirmed by AJHQ months later. He had ways of getting people's attention. He had ways of making AJHQ listen and captivating future subscribers. He was...okay. He wasn't bad, though not the best.

An hour later I was still pondering over this. More information was thrown from the screen into my face within each second that passed. After ten minutes, I was far too shocked to say anything at all. It wasn't just me that was banned, it was also five or six other Jammers. MakeItHappen21, TypicalRocky, and...Jurshy? Maybe more? I hadn't heard anything else that night.

I looked at the clock. 5:59.

Picking up my phone, I scrolled through Instagram. _Strange,_ I thought. Now all the AJ posts are about Aparri banning someone..?

That was when I saw who Aparri so-called "banned".

S-K-O-R-M.

That news slapped me harder than AJHQ ever did. If every last speck of my hatred at the moment towards that damn Aparri was a tiny little rock raining down to the world from outer space, planet earth itself would collapse to nothing. I could feel the shock and anger springing up all through me. Banned by Aparri? I didn't see how this was possible, but if that was that, then I didn't care.

 _Calm down, Skorm,_ I told myself. _You know how much people hate and abhor Aparri. They do random stuff to him all the time and you shouldn't believe it all. Aparri wasn't someone you ever liked that much from the start, but what's the world without Aparri? Go ahead and ask him. Chill._

Hands shaking as if I did something wrong someone would kill me, I quickly sent a message to Aparri asking him about this whole deal. I felt shocked and angry, but who was to believe a bunch IG posts?

 _Did you ban me?_

Thirty seconds.

 _I told AJHQ about you selling items, does that count?_

That was when I screamed at the top of my lungs.

* * *

 **Clark**

These past 6 ½ years my mind has all been on Animal Jam. Thinking about how to make the game better. Handling bad Jammers. Fixing annoying glitches. Doing whatever AJHQ and I could to satisfy the players. The road to now had been quite rough. Sometimes drained out of ideas for updates, Jammers disgusted by the utterly strange things we release, and more, but what can you do about it? Not every game can be perfect. I recently discovered that players who enjoy a game don't bother to give it a rating, whereas people who don't like the same game will bother to give it a bad rating.

Turning to the row of computers, I randomly hit a bunch of keys. There goes the game, which 90% of players love and 9% hate and 1% who don't have an opinion. Pulling away, I started walking over to the rest of the team until there was a shatter and a chorus of screaming.

I felt myself getting pulled back by a strange force. There was almost no sound, but I took one glance at the computer and screamed so loud that I swore my vocal cords would snap.

The screen was dark purple, the screen shattered, and the computer was jumping around like it was mad at me. There was some white force sucking me in.

Was I about to go inside the computer? Had I hit some random key combination that made it do something like this? I shook my head, thinking, _This can't be happening. Computers can't do this. Just walk away, Clark Stacey. Walk. Away._

Attempting to walk away, I quickly strut out of the room and slammed the door, breathing heavily. Should I tell the others about this? Maybe, maybe...no. They'd never believe me. They'd just think I'd gone crazy.

But while pondering over this, I grew unaware of the fact that the door was suddenly missing. Looking behind me, I saw that the screen was now showing a purple and Animal Jam-ized Blue Screen of Death...or more like a Phantom Screen of Death.

The last thing I remembered that day was hitting my head on the computer.

* * *

 _Sir Gilbert_

(Inside Animal Jam)

"This way. Look, if we don't take this way, the phantoms will already take over Jamaa. I don't know what's happened, but it looks like we're trapped. We can't go anywhere else."

"Says who? Why not this path? That way, we can sneak up on the phantoms and they'll never notice."

"That is utterly stupid, Greely."

"Your choices are much dumber than mine."

"I didn't say you were dumb, I said you were stupid."

"Dumb and stupid mean the same thing, do you not know that, Sir Gilbert?"

I scowled. Turning away, I looked down at Jamaa. The phantoms were reaching the outside of it, and they were after Mira's Feather. If it was taken out of its place...there wouldn't be any chance left to save Jamaa. At least the phantoms would die off, but what about all of us?

I was just thinking how stupid Greely was until I heard a crash and a scream.

"Who's there?" Greely shouted, spinning around. But there was nobody else in sight - not a single Jammer or phantom to be seen. Confused, I looked around and nearly dropped dead at the sight.

Over in the mountains, where Mira's Feather was, a purple whirlpool shape was hovering over it and all the Jammers were screaming. Suddenly, they all fled, and then there was silence. Greely and I just stood there in shock, unaware of what just happened. There were two possibilities of what was going on: the phantoms were coming and they wanted the feather or Jamaa had crashed again.

Then the sky shattered, and there was chaos.

We screamed.

* * *

 **Aparri**

I froze. Skorm had really dared to ask me such a question? He'd really expected I'd give him a straight answer? How come he doesn't just email AJHQ now and then? It would be a whole heck easier than trying to force information out of me. Everyone knows how stubborn I am, and it isn't the easiest thing to do, getting all that stuff out of me.

With quivering hands, I quickly responded that I had told AJHQ about him selling items on eBay.

Another second whizzed by and random things were slapping me in the face as if they were being pulled at me with an electromagnetic force. I ducked out of the way, and then I started getting dragged...towards the computer.

I screamed, not knowing what was going on. The computer...was it dying? I'd barely heard anything, but now the screen was purple and it was jumping around like it had gone bananas. I attempted to dash out of the collapsing room before I literally died with it, but it was no use.

I was now pressed against the computer, trying in vain to pull off of it. I probably looked completely ridiculous...and the world started spinning, though I felt exactly the same.

Then I heard Bepper shriek. Was this same thing happening to her? Or...or had she seen me in the random mess I shouldn't be in?

Worst of all, was this happening to all the players of Animal Jam?

* * *

 **Skorm**

That scream I let out must really have cracked the glass.

And screen.

"What in the world is going on?!" I screeched at the computer. "Why are you sucking me in?!" Trying to run away, I was both shocked, confused, and angry at the same time. This was all a nightmare, a horrible nightmare. Aparri was such a screwup, such a bother, such an idiot. Now, what was he doing? He'd banned me and he still wasn't satisfied?

I inhaled deeply. Three seconds later, I was running for my life.

Or should I say, running forward yet going towards the computer, which was behind me. I must look as idiotic as Aparri always is, aimlessly trying to bolt forward yet moving backward.

Scowling, I grabbed on to whatever I could. Pictures. Pencils. Boxes. Books. Even the wall, which was also getting sucked in by the strange force of the computer. Oh, all I had done was scream, I hadn't done anything else. This must be some sort of Aparri's suspicious actions. What was he doing? Trying to get me stuck inside a computer so I'm gone from the world? If this was a crazy dream, I couldn't bring up a single clue about what could possibly have triggered it.

Stop running, my mind said, _It's no use. If this is something having to do with Aparri, he's probably just trying to scare you. Computers can't suck things into them or jump around on their own._

So I stood still, digging my feet into the ground.

Which was likely a bad idea.

* * *

 **Bepper**

Screaming, I held on to the desk of my life. I didn't dare look behind me. Papers were flying in my face and I couldn't see a thing. I needed help. Now. Right now.

"James - er, Jim? I mean, Aparri? MOM? Help me!" I screamed. "Help! Someone help, please! The computer's sucking me in and I know that sounds stupid but I don't care because that's what's happening!"

Nobody came. I didn't even hear a single thing.

I gingerly cranked my head to look behind me, and as the paper got sucked off of me, my eyes nearly fell off of my face. Random things were spinning around in a dark purple pool of nothing and it was getting louder by the second, which was strange because when it started, there was no sound. No sound at all.

Then I heard screaming. Lots and lots of loud screaming. It sounded annoyingly like a Screaming Choir of Jammers, though not just Jammers. Also Alphas, even though I've never heard their voice, and also AJHQ? And Animal Jam YouTubers like me?

What was going on? Was I not the only one? I heard, Skorm was banned, but what else? Had AJHQ made some horrible coding mistake? What could possibly have caused this to happen? Maybe Windows was messing up again and decided to suck me in because it was angry I never fixed the computer. There were never that many problems there, though, were there?

I never thought in my life I'd had to scream for help like this, especially when getting sucked in by a computer. Never.

* * *

Pharrell

(Inside Animal Jam)

" _What?!_ " the king screamed. " _You let that damn group of losers escape? With the feather? AGAIN?!_ "

I gulped, still quivering, as I tried to keep myself up. "Sir, uh...I couldn't do anything. They'd have trapped me otherwise, and...we can always try another way to get the feather back, you know? I mean, just chasing them the aggressive way isn't going to - "

That was when he smacked me on the head.

I ducked down to the side as he glared at me. Though I was a phantom (a stupid one, to be more exact) and I was immune to sharp hits like that, they still hurt, and they scared me, Phaelyn, and little Phil quite as much. I'd have to get out of this place soon. If only I could take on a more Jammer-like form instead of this weird thing that everyone's scared of…

"I'd rather have you trapped in that chomper plant and dead instead of here at the moment," the king growled. "You do understand the only reason why I still keep you here with us is because I can't risk having more phantoms join the Losers, am I correct? Shall I get the others?"

I froze. "N-n-no, please," I said, almost like a surrendering idiotic Jammer. "I will get that Mira's Feather back to you, I will! Just give me another chance!"

He only threw me against the wall. It was all I could do not to scream.

"I have given you too many chances," he whispered. "Therefore, I will not - wait, what? What's that? Who's there?!"

The king spun around, unleashing a wave of purple evilness in the process. I peeked from behind him, trying to see what was going on. The entire fortress had suddenly erupted into complete chaos.

I jumped up, rapidly looking around. Had some sneaky Jammer caught up to us and started breaking the fortress again? Were we moving again? Were we -

" _Pharrell, what are you waiting for?! GET MOVING AND GET THEM!_ Wait, hold on - why is there purple? In the sky?" The massive phantom's voice fell down into a whisper - so quiet I could barely hear him - and he stood there, gaping at the sky. "Holy Zios, I don't believe I'm capable of doing that, actually…!"

Other phantoms zoomed this way and that way, and I saw the world tilting. Random things - some sort of extraterrestrial things - were falling from that strange swirling whirlpool of purple dread. Where were they coming from? Why were they -

My thoughts were cut off with a sharp edge when I heard screaming...strange screaming, of some sort of animal that I've never heard of. It almost sounded like my own screaming. The next thing I knew, something shiny dropped from the top of the mountain.

Mira's Feather! It had fallen out of his place!

I knew this was my chance to prove everyone wrong, that I was a good phantom who could attack and help and rule one day. I would be able to do everything once I've gotten that feather and handed it over to the king and -

"Help!"

Phaelyn?! Where was she? Rushing to the side, jumping over falling debris, and shoving past phantoms, I hoped she hadn't gotten crushed by something, oh, not Phil either...the screaming and the sickening sounds of phantoms getting crushed were so..ugh. I had to find my wife and my son before those two fell to their fate!

* * *

 **Julian2**

I wasn't usually scared of heights.

They didn't scare me that much. I mean, so what? If I fall, I'd turn my head and get knocked unconscious so I wouldn't feel any pain until I wake up. And...if anything else happened, I'd just hope I could say goodbye to my beans before dying. I had one rule: don't think about heights when you're high up from the ground.

But right now, this was an exception.

I didn't know where I was going. I had fallen through some random dark purple computer screen, now I was still falling through purple, and I swear I almost felt myself evolving. I was simply falling...falling...falling...falling...to nowhere, it seemed. Through a completely endless purple nothing.

Screaming like beans, I was spinning around aimlessly in the air and flapping my arms like the baked bean who wanted to fly. I saw random items from my room and my house and outside and even items I've never seen before in my life. At the moment, I didn't care if I suddenly died or if I was never to be seen again. I just didn't want to be the only one.

Then something else flew past me. A streak of brown, pink, a little bit of purple, and light brown, accompanied by a female sort of a scream.

 _Oh, no,_ I thought. _Please don't be who I think it is. Give me someone else, please…_

Then the figure appeared next to me again. And she became clear.

WisteriaMoon.

 _It looks like she's the one stuck with me now. Sorry, Aparri. Hey, that rhymed._

But now wasn't the time to think about what rhymed and what didn't. Now was the time to think about how to get out of here. I tried "swimming" to what seemed like the edge of this purple mess, but there was no edge. Just an illusion.

"Uh...Wisteria? WisteriaMoon? What's going on?" I tried shouting.

WisteriaMoon immediately shut up from the screaming and she shrugged. Then, all of a sudden, she started screaming again.

Then something - another random thing - of magenta and white - whizzed past me, accompanied by a more high pitched scream this time.

Was that Bepper? Or was I hallucinating?

Then there was a streak of...of what? Random. More screaming and maybe even cursing and swearing...

Then a streak of red and another scream.

Then blue and another scream as well.

Then something fuzzy and black, but with some sort of whine.

I hadn't had time to think about where that whine came from until everyone became level and it came clear as to what was falling from above. No, it wasn't some other colored object or something else.

It was Bepper, Aparri, Skorm, Snowyclaw, and...Clark Stacey? What was going on? Why was this happening? Especially the fact that we were here, and not some other random group of Jammers. Also, why Clark? Why not someone else? Was this punishment? Was I dreaming?

That was when I saw a black dog - almost like the black ball of fuzz that fell earlier with a whine - glaring at me with red eyes. I gasped, but nobody else seemed to notice it. I cocked my head at the dog and it immediately seemed to gasp and disappear. Why wasn't that dog spinning and screaming and falling? Why did she only look at me, and how come nobody else noticed?

This could not happen in real life. At the moment, I closed my eyes and joined in the screaming again. I didn't care about anything else right now. All I cared about was that if I had known this was to happen, I never would have joined Animal Jam in the first place.

* * *

 **A/N:** I think this is coming off to a good start. I might not be posting regularly though, so make sure you stay tuned for more updating!


	2. What To Do

**WisteriaMoon**

I wasn't sure how long I was left asleep or unconscious under that building. Strangely, everything had kept its place, but only around half the Jammers remained. It didn't even seem like a building, to be honest. It seemed more like a stupid whatever. Not even close to the graphics on a game.

But how could I know this was Animal Jam at all? I pulled myself up and looked around. At least, this was a place that looked strangely like Animal Jam's Jamaa, only I couldn't figure out exactly where. It looked to me like Coral Canyons, maybe? The problem was, there was almost no stone, yet there were cacti. Maybe it was the Canyons Pathway, but there was no water nearby. It felt unusually dry.

Sighing, I stood up and wandered around. My brain was still spinning in circles so hard that it felt it was about to wear out my skull and leave a bunch of holes in it. Nobody was around. Strutting forward and looking around, I felt a sudden heaviness all over me. Sitting down, I felt around to see what had happened.

Looking at my hands, I realized I was wearing elf bracelets, or what looked like them...just like my Sleeping Desertflower animal. On top of my head, there was my top hat, on my neck, my spiked collar (which felt completely ridiculous), and on my back, that sword (again, it felt ridiculous, but also heavy at the same time). The only thing missing was the tail armor, which made sense, because humans don't really have tails.

I kept on walking, taking a turn every now and then. I heard the sudden slosh of water after a few minutes. _Strange,_ I thought. _How can there be water in this place? It's so dry and empty._ Walking in the direction of the sound, I came to the shoreline of what seemed like the ocean. There was marine life swimming around and lots of coral in the dark, murky water. Scratching my head, I was just pondering over why this was until a small voice peeped up from behind me.

"Wondering where you are, correct?"

I spun around, startled. I glanced around, but I didn't see anybody.

"Look down."

I tilted my head down slightly and there was an annoyingly cute black dog sitting there with her head cocked in one direction. I had a strong urge to reach out and pet her but thought better about it. She must be a serious dog who doesn't want to be petted.

Instead, I nodded. "I don't remember exactly what happened before," I said. "All I remember was purple, and then I was here."

"You're on an island in the middle of Bahari Bay. In your world, WisteriaMoon, it's not visible on the world map because it's so small."

I nodded, taking all that information in. So I was on an island? In the middle of what seemed like nowhere? It would be hard to find a way to get off this island considering Bahari Bay was all around it.

Only then did it strike me oddly that the dog knew who I was and also didn't seem like one of the animals in Animal Jam. Confused, I asked her about it and she looked around frantically.

"I, um…" she stammered, "I have something to do. Maybe we'll meet again? Later, maybe? Yeah, that's fine...goodbye!" Then she disappeared.

I scratched my head and shrugged, trying to forget about it as I turned back the way I came. That dog sure was mysterious, but this was Jamaa. Nothing could really be the same, could it? At least she didn't seem as if she was with the phantoms. That would be quite frightening.

* * *

 **Cosmo**

I looked around for about the hundredth time that night. Nothing seemed to be wrong. But how come it looked like the sky had shattered? Nothing could be wrong, could there? I'd seen something fall from the top of the mountain where the feather was located, but why would the feather fall out of its place if everything was peaceful now? I saw Jammers creeping out of buildings and trying to comprehend what exactly had happened. Besides, if the feather fell out of its place, Jamaa would be collapsing, us Alphas would be dying, and that sure was not happening.

Shrugging, I turned away from the scene and tried "teleporting" to find the rest of the Alphas, but there was no response. Even more puzzled, I tried again, but there was still no response. I shoved my staff at a tree, and it snapped.

I stood there with my mouth hanging open, not understanding why this was. Then I screamed and ran around like crazy.

"OH MY MIRA! WHAT IN THE NAME OF JAMAA HAS HAPPENED?!"

* * *

 **Snowyclaw**

I opened my eyes to a cloudy sky. I could see the sun struggling to poke through the large blanket of clouds, though it wasn't making any progress.

Standing up, I looked around myself and nearly dropped dead at the sight of everyone else lying on the ground unconscious. It all snapped back into me: just doing my own thing until the computer started sucking me in and I was falling through purple. Just purple. Everyone was screaming and screaming and screaming.

I felt all around me and realized I was wearing a bunch of random things...some strange-looking bracelets and a sword hooked onto my back. Walking forward towards the rest of us, I was just about to call to them until there was a sickening smack and I was thrown onto my back.

Grunting and looking up, I realized I'd hit a large branch. But I wasn't tall enough to reach that branch...was I? I stood up again and looked up. No, I was not tall enough. So why did it knock me over?

Bringing my hands to the top of my head, I almost wanted to cry. Those antlers from my Old Frozenspirit wolf were also on me. At the moment, I wanted nothing but to yank them off - which is exactly what I tried doing.

Pull, yank, bend. They didn't budge. I probably looked like one of Santa's reindeer that got turned into a human.

Sitting down, I sighed. With those antlers, I couldn't get through doors, I couldn't walk under trees, I couldn't fit through narrow openings...I bet all the others had better advantages than me. All I hoped was that there wasn't any random black ring pattern all over me...yuck.

That was when the entire group stirred and they sat up. I stared in shock at what they'd turned into. Julian2 was surprisingly tall compared to the rest of us, Aparri had that hideous braided beard hanging from his face, Skorm's spiked collar stuck out what seemed like 50 feet away, Bepper's eyes had suddenly turned huge, and...to them, I probably looked ridiculous too.

I suddenly remembered my antlers. _No,_ I thought. _I can't let them see me like this._ So I ducked behind a bush, pulled it up, and popped it onto my head, hoping my head was hidden. _That's gonna have to do._

Crawling over to the other Jammers, I prayed that nothing could be seen.

Julian2 turned to me. "Hey, uh...everyone? What happened? Snowyclaw? Are you okay? I sure hope you didn't put a bush hat on top of you before this happened."

I shrugged. "I guess I did, I guess I'll have to keep it on. It won't budge."

Julian2 sighed and sank down to the ground. "I never thought I had to carry this sword on my back," he muttered. "I can barely even see a single thing because of this stupid monocle." He stood up and started pacing back and forth. "If only - "

"Julian!" Clark screamed. "Look out! You're going to run into - "

"Be quiet, Clark," Julian2 snapped. He was still walking forward. "I need to think about this whole - YEOW!" He was knocked to the ground like I was just a few minutes ago.

It was silent for a few moments until Clark finished his sentence.

"...a branch," Clark whispered.

I sighed. I was thinking about what to say until I caught a flash of pink and brown from the corner of my eye. Turning, I saw WisteriaMoon walk toward us. She...looked even more ridiculous than Skorm and Aparri combined.

WisteriaMoon sighed. "It looks like we're awake," she said sadly. "I was walking and suddenly I came to the coast of an ocean. Then a dog stopped by and told me we were on an island in the middle of Bahari Bay. It's too small to see on the World Map, and it took me a few minutes to walk to that place at all, so I bet we're really darn far away from Crystal Sands."

I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, that'll be a problem."

Then a gust of wind flew by, and three seconds later, everyone was staring at me in utter shock.

Confused, I didn't know what was going on. Had they noticed my antlers? I thought they were covered up. As I moved my hands to the top of my head, I thought about it. No, they couldn't possibly have...oh no.

The wind had blown the bush off of my head and now everyone could see those ridiculous antlers of mine!

I felt my face go hot right up to the tip of my ears. "I-I'm sorry," I said in a small voice. "I know I look really strange. I'll probably just be a bother on our journey back because I have these antlers that can't fit through any shortcuts…"

Aparri sighed. "I don't reckon there are any trees - or anything that high - above the ocean, which is where we have to cross. At least you don't have some random blanket with holes in it hanging from your back like a three-year-old who wants to play Superman."

"What about me?" Julian2 just about whined. "I almost can't see a thing with this stupid monocle!"

"I can hardly breathe with this tight collar on…" Skorm choked out. "It's so tight and it probably looks so weird."

"I feel you, Skorm," WisteriaMoon muttered. "We're stuck here for no reason and it'll probably take years to get back."

"And it's all because of Aparri," Skorm sneered.

Aparri sprung up. "Uh, excuse me? You were the one who sold items on eBay in the first place. If it hadn't been for you, I never would have told AJHQ."

"As if I care! If it hadn't been for _you_ , getting me _banned,_ I never would have screamed and cracked that screen!"

"Don't you go blaming me. _You were the one who screamed._ You had a choice to do so or not to do so, and you chose to scream."

Skorm started pulling at his top hat. "Your message was blocked because it may not be appropriate."

Aparri cocked his head and started laughing hysterically. "Haha, really?"

Skorm stomped his foot on the ground. "I didn't try to say that. I said: …"

There was a pause.

"Your message was blocked because it may not be appropriate."

We all laughed, especially Aparri, who was now literally rolling in the dirt.

Skorm shook his head. "Ugh, _whatever!_ " he shouted. "It was Aparri's fault we're here in the first place! I don't even know why I exist here if I was banned! So I shouldn't be helping! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Aparri only rolled his eyes, stood back up, and used his elbow to jab Skorm in the stomach, causing Skorm to stumble backward. "Bro," he said coolly as if nothing had happened. "You did something wrong, and you need to own up to it. You sold items and that's that. You deserve the consequences."

I could only agree. "Aparri's right," I said. "You did wrong when you promised you wouldn't. Just create another account."

"And if you're still banned, then don't play Animal Jam at all," Julian2 added. "There's still Transformice. I'm sure Atelier801 is gonna give you a chance at that."

Bepper took a few steps toward us. "Could you just please cut it out? I need to get extra sleep before winter break is over, and I'd like to enjoy the last of it before school starts again! If we just stay here and argue, we'll never get back!"

I knew Bepper was right. I still had college work to do and I didn't want to fall behind. We had better get going. The question was: how would we get back?

* * *

 **Skorm**

I grumbled again. "Well, Aparri can figure it out all on his own, then. Because I ain't helping."

That was when Aparri flung his fist into my face. I was two-something years older than him, but I'll freely admit that he was a whole crap stronger than he ever seemed. Before I could even register what happened, he'd dragged me onto my feet and pinned me against a tree.

"First of all," he said calmly yet firmly, "I did not ban you. If I just said 'Ban Skorm', AJHQ wouldn't just ban you without a reason. I never even wanted you to be banned in the first place. Second of all, you would've gotten banned one way or another. It might not have been so soon, but you still would have gotten banned."

I wasn't about to give in. I struggled free of Aparri's tight grip and grabbed onto his shoulders. I threw him down to the ground and started hitting him everywhere I could, but it wasn't long before he got hold of me again and started punching me all over the place.

There was lots of shouting, and everyone else tried to break the two of us up. But we persisted. I was going to win this fight, to show Aparri that I was better than him, that he was a loser. After a while, I knew I was winning - his punches barely affected me and he looked almost ready to give up.

" _Hey! Hey, you two, cut it out!_ " Clark the Stacey shouted. His sharp grip nearly made me scream as he yanked me away from Aparri. "Stop fighting! That's not going to get you anywhere!"

Aparri slowly got up from the ground. He was bruised all over and blood was dripping down the side of his mouth. "Yeah, right, Skorm," he said. "No reason to fight."

 _Telling me not to fight? When he was the one who banned me and also started this fight?_ "You started it!" I shouted. "You started this! You - "

"Skorm, that is _enough!_ " Clark shouted again. "Right now, I'm going to leave you here for a few minutes, alone, and no coming to us. We're just around the corner. If there's some sort of emergency, come find us, but otherwise stay put. Aparri, that's a warning for you. To both of you, this is a really tight situation right now and we can't dawdle and just stand here arguing. We have to use teamwork and get out of this place."

Aparri only gets a warning and I get a huge time-out like kindergarteners get? How was that fair if Aparri had clearly punched me more than I'd punched him, he'd started the fight, and he'd banned me? And Clark was watching all that! Clark should know better!

I wrestled free of Clark's death grip and turned to face him. "How - how is that fair? How is that fair at all?!" I yelled. "Aparri started it and he punched me way more than I punched him and he only gets a warning and I have to get a stupid time-out that only little kids get?! You obviously like Aparri more than you like me!"

"Skorm," Clark said firmly, calming his tone. "You do understand I or one of the moderators would suspend both you and Aparri right now, correct? But right now, I'm afraid that is far beyond my abilities at the moment. So I'm 'suspending' one of you."

Bepper stepped in. "Why not both of them?"

"Yeah," Julian2 said. "If you want to suspend both of them, why not just leave both alone for a few minutes? That way, it's at least fair."

"I can't," explained Clark. "If I do, those two will just end up fighting again."

"But - but why me?!" I screeched. "How come Aparri's never the one who gets the consequences and it's always the other person, even if Aparri was the one who did the wrong thing?!"

"Because you already are banned, and it only makes sense for you to experience those consequences whenever you can, even in a situation like this. Now, I'm going to leave you here alone for a few minutes. When you're ready and calmed down, come around the corner of that rock. We'll be discussing how to get out of here, and at the moment, we don't need your ideas."

With that, the rest walked away. Aparri gave me that "nice try" look of his and suddenly grabbed my left shoulder. I had an instant thought that he was going to punch me again until he flung me backward, causing me to land on my back. Then he wiped away some of the blood on his face with a smirk and walked off.

Rolling onto my stomach, I tried to catch my breath. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Clark and AJHQ didn't care about me anymore? And it was all because of Aparri? I never thought life could be so unfair.

I scowled as I slammed my fist onto the ground.

 _Damn you, Aparri!_

* * *

 **Graham**

I held the feather in my hands. It was all we had left. Our only hope. But it had fallen so far down from its pedestal where it should rest. There were a few ways up, but it would take so long, and considering the fact that we couldn't just get where we needed whenever we wanted - we were just like ordinary Jammers now that the feather wasn't placed correctly - it would be difficult to get around.

It seems Jammers used common sense much better than we did, but there was a force outside of where the feather should be that no ordinary Jammer could pass through. We couldn't just drag a random Jammer out of their home, anyway.

Greely was pacing around. "I shouldn't have set up that barrier, otherwise we'd be able to get - "

" _Told ya this would happen,_ " Sir Gilbert snarled.

I sighed, twirling the feather around in my hands. "Will you two stop arguing? We need to figure out a way to get up there and get this feather back onto its pedestal where it belongs, and you know what happens if we don't. After four months - "

" _After four months,_ " Liza, Cosmo, Sir Gilbert, Greely, and Peck mumbled irritatingly, " _if Mira's Feather is not restored to the pedestal, everything and everyone linked to Jamaa whatsoever - even from the tiniest detail or if they are unaware of it - shall collapse._ "

I rolled my eyes. Know-it-alls. "You do know it? Alright, then, let's get to work since there is no time to waste. Since we can't get up there on our own and we're more a target for the phantoms, why don't we get some Jammers - "

" _Jammers!_ " Greely shouted, spinning around, his chain necklace rattling and his worn purple cape nearly striking us all in the face. "You know how stupid it is for Jammers to play hero and think they can place Mira's Feather back inside the pedestal. I will not - I repeat, _NOT_ \- have a Jammer of any kind to do an Alpha's job!"

Even though I knew what kind of Alpha Greely was, I could never understand exactly why he didn't want Jammers to help. They would do anything to protect their home, as far as I knew. "Why not?" I said. "It's not like they're going to ruin our reputation or make us seem we're not fit for our job or something."

"Graham's right," Liza butted in. "We might be Alphas, but sometimes we need to let Jammers adventure and be a hero for once. Also, Greely, didn't the Jammers save you from that eruption or something?"

"Some Jammers did save Greely from a bunch of places, but I still think it was Greely who saved them afterward by stopping the eruption," Cosmo said.

I was just standing there, thinking about their words until Peck bounded over and snatched the feather out of my hands. I was just about to yell at her to not play around until she shoved her hand up high into the air, holding the feather as if she had just won the world.

"What are you doing…?" Sir Gilbert said in an are-you-serious and tired voice.

"Hmph!" Peck said in a victorious voice. "Who says we need Jammers? I can do this all by myself! See?" She began jumping up the path randomly, rocks crumbling from underneath her quick feet. "I'm a tiny bunny who can jump real high! So if I get stuck on a ledge, I don't need to worry about where to go next!"

Cosmo walked closer and looked up at Peck. "Peck," he mumbled irritatingly, "going up that way is going to take way more than the four months we have. Besides, how can I trust that you're not just going to fall off or lose the feather in some cave?"

There was no way I could contradict. "Cosmo's right, Peck," I said. "You ran off randomly before and right now we can't trust that you won't get yourself into trouble. I understand how you want to be able to do something for once, but - uh, Peck? Is everything alright?"

Peck was struggling to climb up a ledge, but she wasn't moving and the rocks were only slipping and sliding from underneath her feet. She was grunting and trying to jump up, but gravity refused to let her go. Suddenly, she slid all the way down and fell with a plop on her butt.

 _Exactly what Cosmo and I meant, Peck._

Liza caught the feather in the air and held it in her hands. She slowly shook her head, obviously irritated and worried.

Peck scowled and leaped up at the ledge again, but was brought to a halt by Greely, who slid over and knocked Peck out of her leap with his snout. Peck muttered to herself and tried again and again, but Greely continued to block her path. After a while, Peck just sat there, pouting.

"Aw, whatsamatta?" Greely teased in a mocking voice. "Can't get past a wolf?"

Liza sighed. "Greely, don't do that to Peck. You might not want a Jammer to help us but it looks like that they're our only hope. I'll send Tavie out to see if there's anyone fit to help us. At the moment, I just hope that some of those more well-known Jammers will stay out of the way for the moment."

Greely scowled and turned away, obviously wanting to be alone.

* * *

 **Phil**

Mommy and Daddy always said I should never play with the Jammers. They said they were bad and they were different from us phantoms. I knew they probably didn't like them, but I think Jammers were fun to play with. They thought I was the cutest thing alive!

I would run around and spin around and all the Jammers would come up to me. They'd say I was adorable and that they wished all phantoms could be like that.

If only that was true!

One night, I heard Daddy talking to Mommy about something. I knew it was wasn't right to eavesdrop on others, but I couldn't help it. Daddy sounded real excited and worried at the same time while Mommy was pretty much quiet.

Daddy had said he wanted to find a blue feather. Something called Mira's Feather. I wonder who Mira is, and she sounds _legendary!_ I hope I get to meet her! And if I do, I also hope that she'll give Daddy one of her feathers, so Daddy will be happy!

I wasn't really sure if Mommy and Daddy were planning on telling me. And if they are, then that means I could go with them on a big adventure just like big phantoms get to do!

* * *

 **A/N:** Phil's already seemingly becoming more adorable e3e


	3. Phantom to Jammer

**Tavie**

Ducking under and over coral and the few Jammers who live here, I carried the feather on my back, in a box - a colorful, ordinary box so that nobody would steal it - all while looking for someone who could help. Liza had given it to me, saying that Jammers were our only hope at the moment. I knew she was relying on me to find someone who'd help.

I poked my head through the surface of the water, looking around. _There!_ There was an island in the distance.

Smiling, I swam further and further, knowing there was someone on that island - someone who could help.

* * *

 **Clark**

I don't know how to steer a boat.

Or drive a ship. Or use oars to paddle. I had no damn idea how, and yet WisteriaMoon was asking me how to do this and how to do that, all while trying to figure out how this darn ship works.

 _I'm sure there's an instruction manual somewhere._

"Clark? How do you throw down the anchor?"

I had just about had it. "Why don't you…" I muttered, not knowing what to say. "Why don't you go ask Aparri or Bepper. They're siblings and they should be able to figure it out with that sort of team, don't you think?"

WisteriaMoon let out an irritated sigh. "First of all, Aparri is, like, unable to get out of that room down there because Skorm superglued the door shut with some random brown goo or whatever, and Bepper's seasick when this ship isn't even moving."

I turned away, trying to bring my mind off of all this. _I'll just take a nap and this whole nightmare will be over._ Walking down into the basement, I heard Aparri banging on the door of the room that Skorm had trapped him in.

"Skorm, you need to let me out of here _right now!_ " he screamed. "Cause if you don't, Clark is gonna _get you!_ "

If only I was allowed to do so.

Suddenly, I saw Julian2 walk next to me.

"I'm hungry," he whined. "Are there any beans?"

I jabbed him in the stomach and let out a yelp.

" _YEOW!_ What's with the jab?"

I rolled my eyes. "Dude," I said. "You ate, like, a whole sack of potatoes - er, Aparri's fans - literally twenty minutes ago, and now you're hungry again and asking for permission to eat your own fans? I hope you're not practicing cannibalism. That jab better teach your stomach a lesson."

"I never asked for _permission,_ " Julian2 whined again. "I just wanted to ask if there were any beans nearby that I could eat later!"

I had just opened my mouth to object until I heard Bepper let out an irritated moan.

"Don't…" she moaned. "...don't talk about beans...they remind me of farts and farts are disgusting, and disgusting things make me want to throw up."

I sighed. This entire ship thingy was in chaos. Julian2's whining for beans, Skorm decided to be a bad Jammer and trap Aparri inside a room and superglue the door shut, Bepper's seasick, and WisteriaMoon is asking me stupid questions that I don't have any idea of what the answer is.

Suddenly, the entire ship started shaking and tilting to the side, and I heard WisteriaMoon let out a shout of victory.

" _Hallelujah!_ " she shouted. "Now I know how to drive a ship...totally."

* * *

 **Aparri**

Someone who superglues a door shut when someone's stuck inside a room is nothing but an idiot. I don't use superglue that much. I use it for some other stuff every great once in awhile. Maybe I'd use it to fix a door, but never to glue the door shut, especially with someone inside it. If I had to choose between trapping WisteriaMoon or Bepper, I'd choose to trap WisteriaMoon, because why would I trap Bepper - my own sister - in some random room on a ship? At the moment, all I could think about was how much Skorm had wanted to trap me inside a room and then superglue the door shut.

One thing he could've done to make this better was to save it for April Fool's Day.

Which, by then, we should be back where we belong, so that would be a too bad for Skorm.

I banged on the door again. " _Skorm, you idiot, you…_ "

I stopped to catch my breath. I'd been banging and banging and screaming and shouting for the past hour, it seemed. I had to let Skorm know he was nothing but a bothersome moron.

Breathing in, I shouted.

"Your message was blocked because it may not be appropriate."

 _What the -_

I heard Skorm laugh.

" _BWAHAHAHAHAHA,_ it looks like you can't get past the chat filter, isn't that right, potato?" he sneered before launching into a stupid song. "Potatoes can never be trusted! Potatoes can never be trusted!"

 _Alright, Skorm,_ I thought. _You win this time. But you won't win the next time._

Snorting, I searched for something to say. "Well, you want to know what you are?" I sneered. "You're a storm - a storm that's _triggered_ by the truth! The instant the truth is spoken about you, that's when you start storming, because that truth had just gotten you _triggered!_ "

From the other side of the door, there was a quick intake of breath.

Then screaming.

" _Is there a problem with your potato mind?!_ " he screamed. "I _never_ get triggered. Have I, in any of my videos, gotten triggered? Why don't you just hand over some evidence, hm?"

 _Triggered confirmed._

"Oh…" I said in a dramatic and sarcastic tone. "And may I also note that you have such bad memory that you have forgotten about that one Instagram post you made and the whole reason why we have fallen in this mess in the first place? Triggered, much?"

Skorm gasped. " _Come on, open the door!_ " he shouted. " _I am going to teach you a lesson!_ "

He superglued the door shut and now he's asking me to open it? There he went, saying I had a potato mind and now he was asking me to open a frickin' door that he superglued shut in the first place. What a forgetful idiot.

Hopefully, Skorm understood his mistake.

Turning away, I was just about to sit down on the ground until something hard hit me on the head. I didn't have time to think about the pain until the object bounced into my hands and it let out a soft glow before dimming.

It was a bright colored box, and it was hard. Really hard. It wasn't too heavy, but it was a strange heptagonal shape with a different color between each point. There was a small transparent window in the top, but even as I peered into it closely, I couldn't see a single thing. Just light.

Shaking it around, I tried to see if there was any way I could open the box, but it stayed shut. I couldn't hear anything when I shook it, so it could be some sort of script or something important, yet light.

From the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a book on the shelf with a strange swell at the edge of its pages. Setting the box down, I flipped through the book and found a small roll of paper. Unrolling it, I was puzzled by what was on it.

On the paper, there was a picture of a blue feather that seemed strangely familiar. There was an arrow pointing from the feather to a picture of an old, blue pedestal with the shape of the feather engraved into it.

Was the feather supposed to be inside the pedestal?

Under the two pictures, there were seven colors: blue, red, brown, pink, magenta, black, and green, each in a block shape, connected and right next to each other. However, way to the right, there was a block of purple with a scribble over it.

I glanced from the colors to the heptagonal box back and forth. If I started from the blue color, the colors would revolve around clockwise in the exact order and shade that was on the piece of paper.

The next five minutes were spent thinking about this whole deal.

Then it hit me: the colors matched us. Skorm was blue, I was red, Julian2 was brown, WisteriaMoon was pink, Bepper was magenta, Snowyclaw was black, and Clark was that unpredictable green. And the purple - could it be phantoms?

Finally, I understood.

"Could this…?"

* * *

 **Pharrell**

I hopped this way and that. The feather had fallen in midair and a gust of wind and seemed to blow it south, down to Crystal Sands.

And I was going to find it.

Several Jammers shrieked and hid when they saw me, obviously noticing me as a phantom. I simply rolled my eyes and dodged boomseeds and chomper plants. No, I was not going to get myself killed now.

 _A ship._

It was coming in, close enough for me to take over. I saw one strange-looking Jammer dressed in pink and brown driving the ship, but I could deal with her.

Her? Him? I wasn't about to assume anyone's gender. I've seen girl-looking Jammers say they're boys. Life in Jamaa was strange and I wasn't sure how anyone managed here, but they did, and they did it well. I couldn't imagine all the tricks here, though.

As I jumped into the ship, I was just about to pounce on the weird Jammer and electrocute her until I saw another Jammer, another strange-looking one (though this time way taller) come up from the lower deck and talk to the pink one.

And the pink one just moved out of the way to respond.

The next thing I know, the wooden planks of the ship had zoomed into my face with a _slap_.

 _Damn it._

"Aww!" the tall strange looking Jammer with curly hair said as a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around my waist and tugged me up. "It's one of my beans! Hi, Julian bean! You came here too? You can keep me company! I'll get you a SpinnyBoi costume! I have enough gems to buy one and - "

I zapped him.

"WAH! Hey, whadja do that for?!" he shouted.

The pink and brown Jammer was staring in shock.

"Uh...okay, Aparri tells me there's a feather inside a box with purple scribbled off on a piece of paper, and now this? Another human in Jamaa? What the heck?" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh...don't even try," I growled as I stood back up. "I'm a phantom." Though something she said had caught my attention: a feather inside a box with purple scribbled off. Sure, it could be any ordinary feather, but if it was in a box...and what was a human?

" _Wait, phantom?_ "

I scowled as I swatted at the tall brown Jammer, who was still trying to hug me. "Yeah, stupid," I snapped. "You got a problem with that?"

"But you're a phantom."

I was starting to get mad. " _So what?_ "

"But you're a phantom."

"You said that already, stupid."

"A phantom that looks like a human."

"Oh, so what?" I shouted. "I'm a phantom that looks like you. That's not my fault. That's not my problem. It's yours. You probably tried to copy me. Anyway, I'm looking for a feather. Mira's Feather. Have you happened to see it anywhere, little - "

"It's WisteriaMoon!"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, 'SteriaMoon, where's that feather and who is this little…'friend' you have here?"

"My name's Julian2! I thought you knew that already! Aww, maybe you're one of Aparri's potatoes instead…" the tall one whined.

"Alright, 'SteriaMoon and Julian," I said, getting serious. "Where's that feather? And where's that little guy named Aparri?"

"First of all, I need to know your name first, and why do you need to know who Aparri is?" WisteriaMoon said, turning away from me. "I can go get him if you want me to, but if you're trying to get something out of him, then that's a no-no for you. Also, he's not little. Second of all, you're a phantom, and I don't know what feather that is down there, but it's probably something important. If you had been less rude when you trespassed up here, then I probably would've agreed to help you with finding your own feather. Now get out of my life."

I frowned. "The name's Pharrell," I said, my voice low. "Where's Aparri?"

"Ain't tellin' ya. Now get off or I'll make you walk the plank."

My frown deepened. "Oh, well," I said a little more quietly. "I'll find him. Oh, I'll find him."

* * *

 **Skorm**

I stormed up to the deck. "What's going on here?"

A purple guy was arguing with WisteriaMoon.

"Oh, well," he whispered. "I'll find him. Oh, I'll find him."

"Find who?" I asked, getting curious.

" _AHA!_ " the purple guy shouted suddenly, pouncing on me. "Aparri! Now, where's that feather? I know you got it somewhere…" He began tugging at my top hat. "Ooh, maybe it's under here, or maybe - "

I shoved him away, clenching my teeth, trying not to explode. "What do you want, freak?" I growled. "Also, I'm Skorm, not Aparri. Aparri's red, not blue. Do I look red? No. And you want to know who Aparri is? A little stupid idiot moron who literally falls on the floor crying for rares and potatoes. What's the _feather?_ "

The purple guy scowled. "Oh, boy," he said under his breath. "Mhm. Triggered confirmed. Can I call you Triggered? I might as well - fits you better than Skorm. Where's your twin brother Aparri?"

Twin _brother?_ Aparri was in no way a _friend_ and now this random purple guy was calling him my _twin brother?_ What?

"You didn't answer my question!" I shouted, my face burning red with fury. A loud crack sounded from below the deck, but I ignored it. "What's with this feather? Also, why would Aparri be my twin brother? He's literally a year and a half younger than me - what a baby - and he's _red,_ not _blue_ like me. And don't call me Triggered. What even is your name, anyway?!"

"Twins can be red and blue, and they can be fraternal, stupid. Your face is red enough. Besides, isn't Aparri - "

"Did someone say my name?"

I spun around, and standing right there, next to the stairs leading back down, was the red potato, holding a box with seven colors on it.

* * *

 **Pharrell**

A box.

With a light in it.

WisteriaMoon said Aparri had the feather.

And Aparri is red.

I remember what WisteriaMoon had stated a while back: " _If you had been less rude when you trespassed up here, then I probably would've agreed to help you with finding your own feather."_

So if I was _nice_ to Aparri...I could get that box.

But before I could say a single thing, Triggered sprung up.

"You! Potato! What a stupid idiot! You stole that box from - "

Aparri scowled. "I found it," he said. "It's mine."

"No, it's mine!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers, Skorm. You know how it goes. I found it in this little library you trapped me in and you obviously weren't in there when I found it. It's mine."

"Give it back!"

"What's inside it?"

Triggered hesitated for a split second. "Um. A feather?"

"Hesitation means it's not yours. I don't even know what's supposed to be in it, honestly. Now, again, I think I heard someone say my name?"

I jumped to him and snatched the box out of his hands, running for my life.

" _Hey! That's mine!_ "

"Actually," I shouted behind my shoulder, "it's mine. Not yours. Not Triggered's. Not anyone's except _mine._ I must have lost it on the ship. Goodbye!" I laughed as I jumped off the ship and ran off.

Until something slammed into my legs.

"Daddy!"

 _NO. ZIOS. NO. PLEASE. NO. NOT NOW. NOT WHEN I HAVE THE FEATHER._

"Daddy, did you bring something for me to play with? Yay!" Phil snatched the box out of my hands and started fumbling with it.

 _Oh sh...I mean, damn...damn it. Phaelyn doesn't want me to swear, not even in my mind._

I could hear Aparri catching up to me, probably with his weird friends as well as his twin brother Triggered. I had to get Phil to shut up and run with me and have the feather as well - but how did he even get here in the first place?

Without thinking, I dashed this way and that, dragging Phil behind me, trying not to let those weird Jammers catch up.

Then I tripped over something.

"Pharrell, what is all this about?" She sounded angry. "I told you I didn't want to come on this little expedition of yours."

What was Phaelyn doing here?

"I...never said you had to come," I stammered. "But we're in danger. I mean, we're safe, er - about to get robbed. I got the feather but the Jammers want to steal it! Come on, Phaelyn, we gotta go!"

Without thinking, I ran.

" _Daddy! Daddy!_ " Phil screamed just as I heard a triumphant laugh from behind.

"What now, Phil?" I asked, turning to him.

"I dropped it! I dropped the toy you gave me!"

 _The feather. Oh, crap._

"You - what?"

"I dropped it! The box with all the colors on it!" He began to cry. "I want it back!"

I spun around, only to see Aparri, Triggered, WisteriaMoon, and Julian2 standing twenty feet away, Triggered holding the box.

" _So long, phantom!_ " WisteriaMoon screeched. " _Surprised you even have a little kid with you!_ "

And they ran off.

With the feather.

Phil began to cry again.

"Don't worry, Phil," I said to him reassuringly, though I wasn't sure if I could get it back. "We'll get it back for you. It - well, it was supposed to be theirs, and - "

Phil stopped crying. "You stole it?"

I froze. _Well, yeah, kind of._ "No, I - "

"But Daddy! Stealing is bad! I don't want it anymore if it was supposed to be theirs and they never gave it to us! I don't want to be a bad phantom! I wanna be a good one! Don't you?"

Something hard hit me on the back of my head.

"Pharrell."

I sheepishly glanced behind me.

Phaelyn was glaring at me, her eyes a gleaming dark purple. "Let's head back."

"But I need that feather."

"You're right - _you_ need Mira's Feather. But who cares? I don't. The king's probably dead already. Don't. Also, if you still want to do it, I'm not coming with you. I'm taking Phil and going back."

"But we don't have a home anymore."

"Quit it with the buts, will you?"

"But I only have one butt."

"That's not what I meant."

"But that's what it sounded like what you meant."

"You're starting to act like Misty Moon now."

"Who's Misty Moon?"

"The pink Jammer."

"Oh." Then it hit me. "Hold on, you were listening the whole time? I mean, that argument with 'SteriaMoon up there?"

"What even is her real name?!"

"Um…" I stammered. " _Wi_ steriaMoon. As in the flower and the moon."

Phaelyn rolled her eyes. "Can I call her Misty?"

"You better ask her that."

"I told you, I'm not going back!"

"I don't care." I started back towards the ship. "I'm getting that feather. Phil, come on."

* * *

 **Aparri**

I stumbled back onto the ship, all worn out.

Now we had to figure out how to get back _and_ how to stop this random purple guy from stealing a box at the same time. I had gotten the facts down: the purple guy is a phantom that looks like a human. He has a son named Phil, but we don't know who the mother is. Inside the box was a feather, probably Mira's Feather, which was clearly what he wanted to get. But the box was locked and there was no way to open it.

But maybe…

I snatched the box out of Skorm's hands.

" _Hey! That's mine! Give it back!_ " he screamed as he tried to snatch it out of me.

"Look, stupid," I snapped. "It's mine. I found it. You just want to get me in trouble, you savage."

"Excuse me? _Savage?_ "

"Yeah, right," I just barely whispered. "Savage."

"Well, well, well," Clark said, staring into our faces. "Glad to see you two are finally getting along." Then he added under his breath "Not."

Skorm scowled. "He stole the box from me, Clark," he whined.

"Did not," I growled, a flame of fury getting lit inside me.

"Did too! I had it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did t - "

"Alright, alright, you two, that's enough," Julian2 snapped from behind us. That was the angriest I'd ever seen - or heard - him be. Something about it scared me; it was probably the fact that he had been annoyingly whiny since we'd fallen through the screen, even if he wasn't whiny before.

"Of course," WisteriaMoon added. "This 'did not, did too' argument is so old and stupid to the point that it hurts."

"I just suddenly had an idea as to how this thing probably opens, alright?" I shouted. "Anyway, I found the box, which means it's mine. I'm still sour from having to break through the door that Skorm superglued shut, so don't even _try_ to say something like that."

Skorm scowled again. "How do you think it's supposed to be opened, potato?"

"I'm not a potato," I snapped. "Now shut up. I just think that since…"

I tried putting my hand on the blue part of the box.

Nothing.

I tried the red.

It lit up.

Suddenly, everyone - including Bepper, Snowyclaw, and Clark - were all crowded around me.

I removed my hand from the red part and the box returned to normal. I tried all the other colors, but only the red one responded.

"What the…?" Snowyclaw muttered.

Then I remembered from half an hour ago: the colors matched us. I was red.

I snatched Skorm's hand, not caring that he protested, and slapped in on the blue color. It immediately lit up. I grabbed Julian2's hand and put it on the brown, and it lit up. I put Bepper's on magenta, Snowyclaw's on black, WisteriaMoon's on pink, and Clark's on green.

All the colors lit up, except for red, but that was because my hand wasn't on it.

"That's it, this is nonsense," Skorm growled. "This doesn't mean that this is how we open it. Besides, we don't want the purple guy to find it again. Let's not open it, okay?"

I was just about to object until WisteriaMoon opened her mouth.

"The purple guy's name is Pharrell, and he's a phantom," she said. "Also, if anything, this isn't what we're supposed to be thinking about. We're supposed to be thinking about how to get back on the other side of the screen to _where we belong._ "

"Hold on…" Bepper said, though her face was still greenish. "There's a feather inside of there…? And this so-called Pharrell guy wants it?"

"That's what the potato thinks," Skorm said, all snobbish.

I slapped him in the face as hard as I could and was satisfied when he fell to the ground with a yell.

"Ow! Clark, he broke my nose!" he shouted as a trickle of blood ran down his arm. "Help! It's broken!"

"It's not broken," Clark shot back.

"It is too!"

"Do you really think Aparri could've broken your nose by _slapping_ it?" Snowyclaw butted in. "A broken nose would require more than a single slap. You deserve it, anyway."

Skorm crawled onto his knees. His scowl deepened. "Tell me, Aparri, how do you manage to do this with a slap?"

"Because I can, Skorm," I answered as I shoved a huge wad of what looked like tissues at him. "Now shut your whiny mouth."

Clark sighed. "Really, Skorm, don't talk to Aparri like that, or otherwise this is what you'll get. But, Aparri, you shouldn't be randomly hitting people in the face either."

"I didn't hit anyone in the face!" Skorm shouted, all muffled by the blood-covered tissues.

"Never said you did. Stop getting triggered."

"Did too! You did say I punch people in the face!"

"Did not, Skorm."

"Did too!"

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Did - "

"Okay, okay," Julian2 snapped again. "Aparri and Skorm _just_ got done with this 'did not, did too' thing, and now you two are doing it? Do you _always_ need to start an argument out of the blue, Skorm?"

Skorm gagged and threw the tissues overboard, his face covered with his own blood. "I don't start arguments," he said quietly.

"You do, too."

"No, I don't! I didn't start this!"

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did - "

"Just...shut up, will you?" I said, stepping in between the two. "I bet everyone on this ship right now is going to have a 'did not, did too' argument with Skorm at some point."

"I won't," WisteriaMoon said, rolling her eyes.

"Me neither," Bepper said, though she still looked like she was about to vomit.

Snowyclaw shrugged. "I won't, either," she said quietly.

" _I won't, either!_ "

 _Oh, crap._

I slowly cranked my head around.

And staring into my face was Pharrell the Phantom.

* * *

 **Bepper**

The ship shook with such a force at the moment he jumped on that I threw my head over the deck and started hurling like crazy into Bahari Bay.

"Feather! Aparri, Triggered, 'SteriaMoon, Julian, where is the feather?" the purple guy shouted. "Hand it over, or I'll - "

"You'll what?" Skorm shouted as he gagged again. "You'll...choke me to death?"

Pharrell paused for a moment.

 _Bad idea, Skorm._

"I may as well!" Pharrell screamed. "Come on over here and I'll choke you, how about that? Unless you give me the feather, that is."

Skorm stood up, scowling, Only then did I realize that his face was covered in blood and that the collar of his shirt was also soaked. Man, Aparri sure was strong, being able to do such a thing with a slap. Usually, something like that would require a punch.

"You are not going to get the feather...you will not," Skorm tried to shout, but ended up nearly choking on his own blood once more. "And you are in no way strong enough to...choke me. If I must die, it will not be inside a game."

"What do you mean, game?" Pharrell questioned, frowning. "This is not a game. This is 'returning an item to the rightful owner'."

"Phantom, get off of our ship, okay?" WisteriaMoon shouted as she started toward him. "Just _get off_ and _leave us alone_."

I gasped. "No, Wisteria, don't touch - "

She shoved the purple guy, getting herself zapped. She fell to the ground all limp-like.

Snowyclaw screamed. Skorm tried to stand up, but was kicked over by Pharrell. Clark started shouting. Aparri sat there glancing at Skorm. WisteriaMoon was unconscious.

I threw up.

* * *

 **Skorm**

My head was spinning. The world was going black. I could taste blood. My hands were splintered. I was getting kicked by a phantom. I was bleeding to death. My ears were about to pop. I was choking. Aparri wasn't doing anything to help. Clark was screaming "Your message was blocked because it may not be appropriate". Bepper was vomiting. Snowyclaw was screaming. WisteriaMoon was unconscious. Julian2 was nowhere in sight.

And I was…

Dead?

"This can't be Heaven," I shouted. "Y-y-you son of a…"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Aparri screamed.

Of course, the "chat system" wouldn't even let me say it.

"Your message was blocked because it may not be appropriate."

Pharrell jumped on top of me, pinning me down so hard I couldn't breathe.

"You. Are. Going. To. Die. And. I. Will. Get. The. Feather!" he shouted. "Triggered freak!"

 _I'm going to die._

* * *

 **Aparri**

I clutched the feather box in my arms, scowling, watching Skorm die.

"Serves you right," I said. "You tried to swear."

"Wasn't talkin' to you!" he screamed.

"I don't care!" I shot back. "Where's Julian, anyway?"

Pharrell jumped over to me and threw an agonizingly painful punch at my side. I yelped, and in a hurry to get back on my feet, dropped the box right into Pharrell's hands.

" _Yessss!_ " he laughed triumphantly. "Woooohooo!"

I was not about to let everyone down. I was going to defeat that guy. After all, it was just a phantom. Lead him to a chomper plant and you've (totally) saved the day. The problem was, it didn't seem like Pharrell was a phantom who would get himself killed. He had the feather, which was all he wanted to get.

"You can't...open it...anyway," I said, grabbing his leg. Trying to hide the pain in my voice, I shouted for Julian2 to get out here and _help us_.

 _But he only cares about beans now._

"Let go of me, or you'll pay!" Pharrell growled.

I was just about to say something until Snowyclaw launched up and slammed her fists into Pharrell's face.

"You - " - punch - "stupid - " - slap - "phantom - " - punch - "leave us - " - punch - "alone!" she screeched. "Why don't you just go find some random fortress or chomper plant to hide in?!"

Clark jumped from out of nowhere, holding a rope.

"You can't take that feather from us," he said quietly and gruffly.

"Oh, no?" Pharrell answered, frowning.

"No," Clark said, shaking his head, breathing heavily. "No."

"Yes...I...can." The frown deepened. "Forget it. It's mine. Why are you here, anyway?"

"We don't know...and that's...not our fault," Bepper said before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she was out.

Pharrell slammed his arm into the wooden planks. "Goodbye. Nice try. Hey, that rhymed!" He laughed as he started running off.

"Oh, no, you don't, stupid!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, causing Skorm, nearly unconscious, to grimace.

Jumping up inflicted nearly unbearable pain in the spot that Pharrell had strangled me in, but there was in _no way_ was I going to give up _now_. Not when I was supposed to be the one who always "saved the day". I snatched the rope out of Clark's hands and frantically looked around for something to hit Pharrell in the head with.

The only thing I saw that proved useful in any way was a bunch of fireworks and a lighter in an old, moldy crate.

An idea sparked in my mind.

"Julian! Julian2!" I screamed. "Get out here! Now! Tie this rope to the fireworks thing!"

He was at my side in an instant, as was Skorm.

"You trying to get attention? For help?" Skorm said, his speech sharp yet slurred.

"Just do it, okay, you two?" I snapped.

The two shrugged and, three seconds later, they'd done it. I flicked on the lighter and set off all the fireworks - ten seconds and they'd go off.

I jumped down from the ship onto the sand of Crystal Sands and dashed after Pharrell.

Five seconds left.

" _Hey, Pharrell!_ " I shouted after him, faking the concern in my voice. " _There's a mechachomper comin' for ya!_ "

He skidded to a stop and glanced around. "Wait, what?"

 _Thank God he's this gullible._

I slipped the rope circle with the lit fireworks around his waist, pulled it tight, took the box from him, and stood back, smirking.

"What the - _OH, YOU LITTLE…!_ " Pharrell growled.

Then he was flown screaming to who-knows-where. The sky filled with purple and black fireworks.

" _Listen to me!_ " Pharrell screamed from up high above. " _I will definitely be back! I will!_ "

We all stood there, laughing at the redonkulous sight of phantom fireworks in December.

* * *

 **A/N:** WAH haven't updated in so long, haha...will try to get a chapter up every week or so. Maybe two weeks. Depends on the situations I'm in, lol.


End file.
